The Key
by The Elemental Kunoichi 4
Summary: Everything in Astoria Greengrass's life was perfectly normal. Until she meets Draco Malfoy. That's when things go badly. When Astoria becomes a key to the next Dark Lord, Draco tries to save her with the help of their friends. But will they get through it
1. Tailor Shop

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

* * *

Doing errands. That's exactly how I want to spend my afternoon, the day of a party at the Parkinson's. I'd rather be getting ready, like my older sister, Daphne. Though, I'd understand why she would need the time. Pansy Parkinson is her best friend and everyone knows her. Me? I'm just Daphne's younger sister, who just graduated Hogwarts last year. Sure some of my friends will be there, but I don't need to impress them with my looks like she does. Boys will be all around her. As for me, no boy would ever look at me the way they look at her. Though I hoped tonight would've been different. I thought I'd actually have some time to look pretty tonight. Well I guess I'll just have to do whatever I can with what little time I'll have after I'm done with these errands.

Daphne always got most of the attention when there were big gatherings with the rich pureblood families. Being a Greengrass meant that you were invited to those. So, seeing her being crowded with people got more and more annoying each time. Surely, I was not jealous. It's just she had a different personality towards me. And I wouldn't even be around her. I'd only come up to her once or twice and say a word or two, then walk away. But, she still looked at me with daggers in her eyes. Tonight would be no different.

Last errand of the day and it was about 2 hours before the Parkinson's Masquerade Ball started. Just enough time to get mine and Daphne's gowns from the tailors, return home, and get ready. Daphne would have at my head if I return home any later.

As I entered Teresa & Trabella's Tailoring Shop, there was a man with white-blonde hair, wearing a black suit, standing at the counter. He was only about a couple inches taller than I and he looked like the same age as Daphne. As soon as he turned to look at me, I knew exactly who he was. Draco Malfoy, the former Death Eater. Son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. I whispered, "bloody hell." I wasn't a fan of him like all the other Slytherin girls were. In fact I hate him for joining the Dark Lord's side. My family was supporters, but Daphne and I still didn't approve. Even so, Daphne still fancied over Malfoy. It disgusted me then. Still does even now when it's been years since the final battle.

He looked away from me and looked back over the counter. Malfoy looked irritated as if he had been standing there for hours, waiting. I walked over to the counter, standing at least a foot away from him. He looked back at me as if I seemed familiar. I don't see how he could know me. He'd only hang around Daphne and all their friends. I don't look anything like Daphne. She has blonde hair, while I had brown. We both agreed that if we were going to be in the same school, we didn't want to look alike anymore. So, I changed my hair color since I was the new comer. I still don't know the exact reason why. Probably, so people don't accidentally call us by the wrong name. Both of us hate that. The only appearance we have in common is our pale skin and green eyes. Malfoy continued to eye me over as if he was still trying to figure out who I was.

Finally he asked, "Do I know you?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you know my sister, Daphne." I said.

"You're her sister?"

"I think I just said that." I said icily.

His eyes widened as he was taken aback by my recent mood. Then he glared at me. He was just about to respond, when one of the tailors came out from the back with some dress robes.

"Here you go, Mr. Malfoy." said the lady.

"Finally." Malfoy growled as he stopped glaring at me. Then he headed towards the door.

"May I help you miss?"

"Yes. I'm picking up two dresses."

"What are the names under?"

"Daphne and Astoria Greengrass."

The tailor nodded and headed for the back room again. Malfoy stopped in front of the door and then turned around on his heels.

"So that's your name."

"Yeah, I thought you would know that since our family's are friends."

He was beginning to irritate the hell out of me and we barely had one full conversation. Malfoy as well looked annoyed at my attitude towards him. But I couldn't blame him. My attitude was like that because of all I did this morning. We just stood there, glaring at each other, waiting for the other to back down. Neither of us did for a while. But by him speaking I knew he gave up.

"Do you have a problem with me, Greengrass?" He asked icily, glaring at me still.

"My problem doesn't fully revolve around you. But I can honestly say that _now_, you are apart of it."

"You really have an attitude. Unlike your sister. She actually doesn't run her mouth because she realizes who she's talking to."

I rolled my eyes at the first part. I knew I had an attitude at the moment. He didn't have to point it out.

"On the contrary, _Malfoy,_ Daphne does have an attitude. She just doesn't want to show it around you, though she shows it around everyone else."

"Oh, really. Why is that?" He asked curiously.

"I don't think the reason is any of your business." I said as I looked away from him. I could still feel his grey eyes on me. As if he was trying to burn a hole through my skin.

The lady came back with two gowns in her hand, wrapped in clear plastic.

She said, "Here you go, Miss Greengrass."

"Thank you." I said as I took them.

Once again she went into the back of the room. Surprisingly, Malfoy was still standing there, glaring. Still trying to burn a hole through my skin. I turned to him and stared directly into his eyes.

"Take a picture, Malfoy. It'll last longer."

"Whatever." He said while rolling his eyes.

"Well I'd love to finish our brawl, but I must get home. Good-bye, Malfoy. I can't say it was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

He headed out the door. I went to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. I stepped in, then said "Greengrass Estate," and dropped the powder, headed for home.

I stumbled out of the fireplace. No matter how many times I use the Floo Network, I still seem to do that. I stood up then walked up the main staircase, and headed for Daphne's room. I knocked once saying, "Daff?"

"Yes?"

"May I come in? I have your gown."

"Yes you may."

I opened the door.

"It's about time." Daphne said.

"Sorry." I said sheepishly. "The lady working took a while to find our gowns. I think she must have been new. Plus, she was finding someone else's dress robes when I got there."

"It's fine. At least you got home with enough time."

"Oh, and I ran into someone that you know."

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy."

Her eyes lit up and her voice was excited when she said, "Really! Did he say anything about me?"

"He did say some things, but not about you. Sorry."

"Oh, well, I'll see him tonight anyways, so no big deal."

"Yeah, right."

"Alright, that's enough chit-chat. You still need to get ready. Now, go."

I left her room and headed to mine with my dress.

I sat in front of the mirror thinking of what I should do with my appearance.

_Might as well go with something simple._I thought to myself as I got my wand. I pulled the hair-tie out of my hair. Then I tapped my wand on the top of my head and my straight brown hair curled. I grabbed my make-up bag and took out my eyeliner, blush, and violet eye shadow. After I was done I took my gown out of the plastic and slipped it on. It was a dark purple dress that had two black stripes that start at the circle in the middle of my chest and end at the bottom. It also tied around my neck. As I grabbed my matching shoes I started to think.

_This time, I'm going to stand out._

After I put my shoes on I grabbed some accessories to put on. The usual pearl necklace, and earrings, and my ring that matched my dress. But, I also out on my black beret, and my black lace gloves. When I looked in the mirror, I thought that I looked great enough to stand out. Just as I hoped. I sprayed a little perfume on. It smelled like cherry blossoms. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Tori?" Daphne asked.

"Yes?"

"It's time to go. Mother and Father are downstairs waiting."

"Okay. I'll be right down."

I grabbed my coat, my bag, my mask, and headed for the stairs. With one last look in the mirror, it was time to go to the Parkinson's Masquerade Ball.


	2. Masquerade Ball

We apparated to the Parkinson's Manor, like most of the other families did. We just stood there for a moment. Then somehow we put our masks on simultaneously. My father's was grey to match his suit. My mother's was magenta to match her dress and her shoes. Daphne's was white, to match the thin belt around her waste and the sparkles on her light blue, satin gown. My mask was well, purple. The same dark purple as my dress.

All of us walked through the double doors in a straight line. We were greeted by the house elves taking coats and bags and also by the other people ahead of us. After we gave our coats and bags to the house elves, mother and father left Daphne and me alone. She looked at me with confused eyes as she noticed I still had my beret and my black lace gloves on.

"Aren't you going to take those off?" She asked, pointing.

"Um…No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. I thought that since I wouldn't have enough time to put on as much of my make-up like you did, that I could have enough time to add more accessories to stand out. Does it look bad? If it does, I'll take them off." I started to worry at the last part.

"Oh, no it doesn't look bad. Don't worry, I was just wondering. It looks good actually. Very different, but cute."

I blew out a huge sigh of relief. "Good. Thanks. I just think that sometimes you need to stand out with what you wear, not with make-up. Look different, but still good and…pretty without over doing it with other things."

"Great idea Tori. I'll think about that next time there's a party."

"It's good experimentation."

"I'll say. Oh look, there's Pansy and my friends. I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye." Now the ignoring, mean, glaring Daphne comes out. Or so I thought. Her friends were pointing at me. They were probably asking her who she was talking to. I was expecting her to look at me, roll her eyes, and just say I was nobody, but instead, she smiled and motioned for me to go over there.

I walked over to her with caution. I didn't know what would happen when I got there, but I was certainly sure that I was confused. Then Daphne did something even more surprising. She introduced me to her friends.

"Alright everyone, this is my litter sister, Astoria."

I was speechless and completely taken aback by her recent mood. She usually didn't do this unless she was told. I could only manage to say, "Hi." as I was still in shock. Everyone greeted back in unison. Daphne then began to introduce me to everyone properly by name.

"Astoria this is Theodore Nott, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, Milicent Bullstrode, of course you know you Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy.

I scoffed at the last name said. I had finally come out of shock…Sort of.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

I heard a slight noise coming from Malfoy's area, but I ignored it.

"Daphne, can I speak to you for a moment?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll be right back." She said to her friends.

I led her to an open area where no one else was.

I asked her, "Daff, why are you introducing me to your friends. You never did that before."

"Well, I thought that maybe I have been too harsh to you at gatherings. You know, I always glare at you. I thought that introducing you to my friends would make things better, since every time I'm around them I act differently towards you."

"Oh. That's very sweet of you." I was still a bit confused.

She laughed. "Yeah. Since we're both out of school now, we can both hang around the same group, without you getting judged by other, immature people."

"So, is that why you wanted me to change my hair color? So that I didn't look like you, and get judged."

"That and I didn't want people to get us mixed up." She grinned.

"I thought so."

"But, I made you do it so you wouldn't get judged by my mistakes. I was a bully at Hogwarts. I thought that if you didn't look like me, people would think that you were nothing like me. I wanted you to have friends, not followers for having a tough sister."

"If I would've kept my hair the same, people would have acted as if I were just like you at school? Mean, arrogant, and a bully? Kids from my grade would only be my followers to make sure they wouldn't get hurt."

"Exactly."

"Okay, I understand now, thank you."

"No problem. That's what sisters are for."

We smiled at each other.

"Alright, did you find any of your friends yet?"

"No, not yet. It's kind of hard because of all the masks."

"Right. Well, why don't you just hang out with me and my friends until you find them."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright, then."

Daphne and I headed back to her group of friends. All of them fell quiet as they saw I was tagging along side her.

"She's just going to stay here until she finds her friends." Daphne explained.

Pansy replied. "Okay, that's fine. By the way, you look very cute, Astoria. Both of you do."

They all agreed.

"Thanks. You look great yourself." I complimented.

"Thanks."

All of them continued to talk about the party. I just stood there bored out of my mind. Draco was talking about his job at the Ministry. Surprisingly, he wasn't working along side his father. He was working with Harry Potter, watching over Hogwarts. They read about the first year students and see how they do as the year goes on. Once a year they go to the school and evaluate the teachers.

Malfoy just kept going on and on about it. Pansy looked interested to hear him talk while she clang to his arm. Daphne did the same. I, on the other hand just stood there looking interested but, really, was completely annoyed about his bragging. I didn't think he cared that Daphne and Theo had a job at the Ministry as well. Daphne worked as a secretary for my father, while Theo had the same job as Draco.

My father wanted me to work at the Ministry as well, but I told him that for now I will work for a couple of days at different shops on Diagon Alley. Then, I'll try St. Mungo's, and _last_ the Ministry. Which ever place that I like the best, I will work there. He agreed to my decision eventually. Knowing my father, he'd try to make my visit to the Ministry exciting.

It's been nearly an hour and I still couldn't find any of my friends anywhere. I wasn't enjoying tagging along Daphne and her friends. When we stopped by the snack table, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, Tori. It's me Miranda." She said that as she took off her mask to prove it.

"Hey! I've been looking for a familiar face since I got here."

"Sorry. I've been looking for you too. It's kind of hard with all these people around."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, the others are waiting over there. Let's go."

"Alright. I'll be right there."

"Okay." Miranda smiled and left.

I approached Daphne to tell her I was going.

"Hey, Daff. I just found my friends. I'm going to go by them."

"That's good. Have fun."

"I will. See you later. Oh, and save your little sister a dance when a fast song comes on."

"No worries. I was just going to say the same thing."

"It was nice meeting you all."

"Likewise." Everyone said, except for Malfoy.

As I started to walk away, I heard someone say, "Wait."

I turned to see that Draco was the one to call out.

"What?" I said.

"Was that girl you were talking to Miranda Hampton? A Ravenclaw?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You actually hang out with them?"

"Not just them. There's some from every house."

"Whoever knew Slytherins could be friends with Gryfindors." He scoffed.

"Well you know things have changed a lot. People from other houses can trust Slytherins, now that you've gone and graduated. No more fear lurks in the halls because you're not there anymore. No more death eaters are around."

And with that I left him shocked and angry. Everyone else was surprised that I, of all people, actually mouthed off at him. He tried to respond but, I didn't hear him.

I met up with my friends giving them all happy looks. We talked about how we were doing. They asked what I was doing over there with my sister and her friends. I told them everything. I danced with all of them and got the chance to dance with Daphne. I had a great time. It was the best Masquerade Ball yet.


	3. Breaking News

It's been a week since the ball. Things have been quiet ever since. I mostly just sat in our family's library, reading books. It was a Saturday and I had nothing to do. My father told me to get out of the house because he was having a private meeting with some Ministry people. And _ONLY _Ministry people were allowed in the house. I'm the only one in my family left out. Yes, my mum, dad, and sister all work there. My mum was the Minister's accountant. My father worked along side the minister. And Daphne was my father's secretary. My family was up there in that business, which is why we have so much money. The reason my father wants me to work at the Ministry, is because he can get me a job as head of the group that Potter, Malfoy, and Nott are in. but I want to get my job on my own. Plus, I don't want to work along side Malfoy. Even if I'm the boss of him.

I had been walking around Diagon Alley for about an hour. My father told me to be out of the house for about two hours. I had been in every book store, and bought at least one book from every store. I decided to go shopping for some clothes. I entered a lot of boutiques and bought only a couple of things. Before I knew it, there was only 15 minutes before I could go home.

It was about lunch time, so I decided to Aparate to the Leaky Cauldron for the last 15 minutes.

Finally, the two hours were over and I could go home. I wanted to put all this stuff down. It started to hurt my arms. And I was tired of walking up and down the streets. A relief when I could put these bags down and lay on my bed. But when I got home, that was the last thing I could do.

As I returned home I headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water. I was confused and startled to hear a loud conversation coming from the living room. I was sure that the meeting was over and everyone had gone home, but I was wrong. I walked into the room only to be more startled of who was all there. Only three people, other than the parent, sitting there. Theodore Nott, Daphne, and Draco. Pansy, Milicent, and Blaise were there too. They all looked at me stunned, and everything went quiet.

"Father? I'm sorry. I thought you'd be done by now. You said two hours." My voice was a bit shaky as I said that. I knew something was wrong.

"I know what I said."

"If you would like me to, I can leave again for a while."

"No, no. It's alright. We would like to talk to you."

I thought I knew where he was going. But I was wrong.

"Father, if this is about me working at the Ministry, I told you before, I'll thi-" he cut me off before I could finish.

"It's not about that."

"Astoria," my mother started, "I think you should sit down."

"Why? What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Just listen to your mother."

I sat down on the couch next to Daphne who was looking terrified. She wrapped her arm around me, holding me tightly.

"Dad," I said, "I thought you were having a Ministry meeting, and there's only 3 Ministry people here. Not including the parents."

"I lied so you'd get out of the house for a bit while I talked to these kids and their parents about their mission."

"Their mission?"

"Yes. The mission is to protect you."

"What? Why would I need protection?"

"Before I tell you that, I need to ask you some questions."

I nodded.

"When you were in the library, what books did you read? Whether it was a glimpse, or you read a lot of it. What were they called?"

"Well, I only read about three that were about our ancestors. Alabaster Greengrass, Marissa Greengrass, and this odd one that I've never seen before. Um. It was called Ramiel Reiann."

"You read about Ramiel?"

"Only the first page. It got a bit confusing. In the front cover, there was a piece of

parchment that said 'This book will only appear when the time is right.' I was wondering what it meant."

When I looked around the room, everyone's eyes were wide. As if they were frightened. My mother and Daphne seemed like they would burst into tears any second.

My father started to speak again.

"Did you read anything about a bracelet?"

"A bracelet? Yes, I think I did."

"That's good. What did it say?"

"It said it was a key to something. It held a secret." I stopped to look around. Everyone just looked nervous and as if something was true. So I asked, "Father, can you just tell me what's wrong. Why do I need to be protected?"

The room fell silent.

"Fine. I'll tell you. You need to be protected because you're being watched. Have you read the Daily Prophet recently?"

"Yes. It said something about the Carrows and how they're planning something. But know one knows what."

"Well, we had a spy listen in on one of their meetings and we got some important information on what they're planning. It seems that they are looking for information about Ramiel. Apparently she has a clue that will lead the Carrows to the next Dark Lord. The bracelet has the clue. The book was charmed so that it will only appear when it is ready to reveal the next Dark Lord."

"Wait. Who is Ramiel?"

My mother was the one to explain.

"Ramiel is an ancestors. That is why my middle name is Reiann. It was my maiden name. She was one of the most powerful witches ever in history."

"Oh."

"No one knew what she looked like since there were no cameras way back then. But we found a drawing of her and she looked like this." My mother grabbed an old sheet of paper. I gasped at how she looked. In the drawing, she looked exactly like me. Long brown hair. Same facial features, but just a bit older. She could've been my twin.

"Tha-that looks like me." I choked out. I looked at my parents with wide eyes.

"Yes, she does. The Carrows are after you Astoria. They want you. Ramiel charmed the bracelet so only she can touch it. There is a small locket on the bracelet that has the information. We believe you are the reincarnation of her. Ever since the Trace on you was lifted the book revealed itself and the Carrows have been watching you to wait until you found the book. The Carrows need you to get the bracelet, open the locket, and tell them who the next Dark Lord is. They'll do what ever it takes to get you. But they won't come close. I've asked Daphne and her friends to be your protectors."

"Why them? I mean you could've gotten other people."

"I chose them because our families are close. And I can trust them."

I started to get irritated because I didn't want any of them to protect me. Especially Draco. I didn't know anything about them.

"What if I got some of my friends to protect me. Surely that will still work."

"No. That won't work. These kids have lived through the Dark times and they fought in them too."

"Well, so did my friends. We all did."

"They are older and they know what they're doing."

"Look, I don't want to be protected by them. I don't know anything about them. You may trust them, but I don't. You know that about half the people in here took side with the Dark Lord. Who says that when the new one comes they won't do it again. And what does it matter to you, you supported him. What's the difference now." With that I stood up.

"Well that was different. No one was threatening our family. Now that we've all seen what might happen, we can't join their side again. What's different now is that we have a choice. And we're planning before it starts. They will protect you and that's final." My father spoke through gritted teeth.

"Astoria," my mother spoke, "Just do what your father says. It's for the best. We care about you. And we don't want anything to happen to you. You're just 18."

I knew I wouldn't be able to win this fight. Everyone else was older and they've been through a lot more then I did.

"Fine. But don't expect me to listen to them if I think what they tell me is ridiculous."

I left the room. I thought the whole thing was rubbish. I could protect myself if I just tried. But they wouldn't have it. They'd just do whatever they wanted without me having a say. No matter what. They may be my protectors, but I will fight along side them. And I will make my own decisions, when it comes to be my turn.


	4. Trapped

It's been weeks since it started. About four to be exact. Throughout those four weeks someone has been with me at all times. I feel completely and utterly trapped. It seems as if I'm a prisoner in my own home. Sure I get to leave, but someone must be with me of course. I can't even sleep in my own room. I must sleep in the main room with all of my protectors. I tell my parents that this is barbaric and rubbish. But they don't listen. They just keep telling me that this is for the best. I don't see how it matters so much. There are at least 10 protective charms on this household. That should keep the Carrows out. But it's just in case. No one understands that I can fight myself. They treat me as if I'm 5 years old. I'm 18 for Merlin's sake.

My protectors have there own little schedule of who's turn it is to protect me. Or who protects me when I go somewhere in the house. Daphne has the job of standing out the door when I go to the bathroom, and take a shower. Milicent has the job of standing out the door when I change. Pansy has to watch me when I'm eating. Tracy watches me when I hang in my room. Theo watches me when I sit outside. Blaise watches me when I go to my family's library. And Draco has to go with me when I leave the house to go somewhere else. That gets a bit uncomfortable because when some of my friends see me, they think we're dating. It's disgusting. Though, Draco thinks it's funny when I get embarrassed, so he just stands there smiling. And I have half a mind to hex him for that. We had to make sure that no one would get suspicious. There mission to protect me was a secret and so was the whole new Dark Lord problem. No one, not even the Ministry, could find out what we were doing.

There are some good parts to it. I've gotten to know some of them and enjoy there company. Everyone but Draco have become my friend. But still having them watch me all over the place has become irritating. No one knows how long it will last because they have to protect me until the bracelet is found and we have to get it before Amycus and Alecto Carrow do. That won't happen for a while. The bracelet is lost somewhere and no one knows a bit of where it is. People have been searching for the past four weeks and no one has come up with any idea of where it might be. I'm pretty much trapped for a very long time.

Today was no different. I was followed by someone everywhere. The bad part about today was that I had to go do errands. So Draco has to come with me. I just hope not one of my friends sees me this time.

*********************************************************************************************************************

I was sitting in the dining room with everyone else waiting for Malfoy to get ready. Everyone else was talking about how no one has seen the bracelet. But someone did find a clue.

Daphne spoke, "I heard that Ramiel lost it when she was in the battle that killed her. The battle was near Hogwarts. The bracelet has got to be around there."

"Then why don't they check there?" Blaise asked.

"That's their main search place now. They've been there ever since they got the clue. But no one has found anything still."

Pansy asked, "Can't they narrow it down to at least one spot?"

"No. The battle was somewhere near a lake, but the lake is too big to narrow it down. Plus there's more then one lake.

I was just sitting there listening to what they were saying. I wanted to try and go out to find it, but no one would let me try. I had a feeling that maybe I could find it. My parents tell me to stay out of it. But how can I when it's mostly about me. To them I was worthless. The only thing they wanted me to do was stay hidden and protected. What a waste.

Finally, Malfoy came down the stairs ready. I had to get going now or else I won't have time to figure things out. No matter what I was helping. I'm going to find the bracelet.

"Took you long enough." I said.

"Sorry." He scoffed.

"Whatever. Can we just get going?"

"Fine by me. I don't enjoy watching you. I want this to be over as quick as possible. Just like the other times."

We headed for the door. Everyone called out bye and told me to be safe. I just rolled my eyes. As if I didn't hear that before.

We had done all that we needed in a matter of an hour. It still felt like forever though. People stared as I walked beside Malfoy. It was very annoying as girls that I didn't even know giggled as we walked by. The last thing we had to do was go to a book store and look if there was any book on Ramiel Reiann. We entered the store and searched every shelf there was and nothing came up. Nothing at all. It was disappointing. I wanted to know more about her. I read the book in our family's library in a matter or two days. It was interesting but it didn't say anything about the bracelet. Daphne read it as well. She thought it was confusing. I guess that was the only book of her out there.

We left the book store and headed onto the street where there were a lot of people. Some of the people expresses changed as Malfoy and I passed. I just thought it was because I was walking with him. I got more and more irritated because it was bad enough walking with him, but to have everyone stare just made me pissed off.

Just as I thought that this couldn't get worse, someone I didn't want to see was behind me.

"Astoria?" I turned around only to be stunned of who was there.

"Cameron? Cameron Bleevy?"

"The one and only."

"Give me a second ok?"

"Sure."

I turned back to Malfoy and said, "I'll be right back alright."

"I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight, remember?"

"Yes, I remember that but, it'll only be a minute or so. The Carrows won't get me

in that time limit."

"They could if they tried." He paused for a second to think it over. "Okay. You got about five minutes."

"Thanks. Just wait here." I turned back to Cameron, grabbed his arm and pulled him a couple of feet away.

Before I could say something he asked, "Was that Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"Are you dating him?"

"No. No way. I would never."

"Sure you wouldn't"

"What did you want Cameron?" I growled.

"Well I just wanted to ask if you were okay."

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's all over the Daily Prophet that you're being watched by the Carrows."

"It's says it where?!" I asked in a high pitched voice. I was nervous. Me being

watched by the Carrows was supposed to be a secret. How did it get into the public?

He reached into his coat pocket and took out what seemed to be the Daily Prophet. He gave it to me and I read it. My eyes widening at how detailed it was. It seemed impossible that it would get out, but it did.

"Cameron, do you mind if I take this along with me?"

"No, not at all. I can get another one."

"Thanks. It was nice to see you again, but I must get back home."

"Sure, no problem. It was nice to talk to you too. Be safe alright. The Carrows are very dangerous. Good-bye." He walked away. I was pretty frozen at my place, rereading the paper again. Me being watched was on the front page. Finally I spun around fast and ran toward Malfoy.

"What's that?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later. We have to get back to the Estate, now."

I ran as fast as I could into an empty alley so we could Apparate back.

As soon as Malfoy caught up with me he asked, "What's going on? What's the rush?"

"I told you, I'll tell you when we get back to the Estate."

He grabbed my arm and there was a loud _pop_ as we Apparated.

When we Apparated back to the Estate everyone was sitting in the living room, still talking about the bracelet. When they saw my worried expression they silenced immediately.

"What's wrong?" Daphne asked in a very worried voice.

"This is what's wrong." I said as I laid the Prophet down on the coffee table. They all bent over to read it and there expression went from worried to complete and utter shock.

"How did this happen?" Millicent asked. "No one was supposed to find out. Not even the Ministry."

Draco went over and sat next to Pansy and looked at the paper. And his expression too went into shock.

"So this is why you ran away from that Cameron fellow."

"I didn't run away from him." I explained. Then I changed the subject back to the real problem. "I don't know how this happened. Someone must have let it slip that this was happening."

"Well it certainly wasn't us."

"I never said it was. It's all starting to make sense now."

"What does?" Draco asked.

"When we walked out of the bookstore and everyone was looking at us differently than the first time we walked past them, it wasn't because I was walking with you. It was because they all read the Prophet and they saw that it was me. They looked at me that way because I held the key to the next Dark Lord. And they didn't know if I was going to purposely get the answer and join the bad side, or if I wasn't going to do anything at all. They were confused."

Pansy asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

After a couple of minutes, all the parents came home just as confused as we were. We all just looked at each other wondering who would speak first. My father was the one to break the silence.

"Did you all read the Daily Prophet?"

"Yes." We all said in unison.

"Father," I started, "How could this have happened? We were all careful that no one said anything about it to the public. I mean it was so top secret."

"I'm not sure how it happened. Our best guess is that someone must have spied on us."

"How could they spy on us if we have charms on our Estate?"

"Well, sometimes we speak about it in the office, while no one else is around. Maybe someone hid when we didn't notice and listened in."

"That makes sense. So what do we do now?"

"What's best. You cannot leave this household Astoria. Not until we find the bracelet and you can retrieve it, if it's safe enough."

"But that's not fair. I can't just sit around here for days, maybe weeks. I need to get out sometimes. I still need to work at the stores for a couple of days. I need to figure out what I job I want. I'll need some air. I can't just sit outside in our backyard. You can't keep me locked up."

"I'm sorry, but that's what we're going to do."

"Look. It's bad enough that I have to be followed all over the house, but you cannot keep me in the house. No matter how safe you think it is. I'm going to leave sometimes, when I want to or I have to."

"No. You are going to stay in this house with everybody else. That's final."

"It is not final! I'm not five. I'm 18. I'm old enough to make my own decisions now. Why don't you ever listen to me? I'm old enough to protect myself when it's in the property of our own home. There are around 10 protective charms on this household. That's enough for me to be by myself. I can understand if I need someone to be with someone outside of this house. But it's unnecessary to have someone watch me in the house, every room I go in to. And now I can't even go to a store at all, but I still need to be watched! What are you trying to do to me?"

"Astoria. Enough of this nonsense. You know it is just to keep you safe. So listen to me." My father hissed that last sentence out.

"No father. You listen to me. I am done." I stormed out of the room as fast as I could. Fast enough to that no one could follow me to watch me. I wasn't far enough to hear the last thing he said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He yelled. But I didn't reply.

I enter my room and slammed the door. I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. I didn't know exactly why I was crying, but I was anyway.

I lied on my bed for what seemed days but it was only a mere couple of hours. Since my fight with my father I had been thinking about what I should do. I rolled over onto my side to check the time. It was the middle of the night. Everyone should be asleep by now, but I on the other hand was not tired. I closed my eyes for a second and then it came to me. I sat up and smiled. I went to grab my suitcase and opened it. I started to pack. I knew exactly what I was going to do now. To prove I was able to protect myself, I was going to run away to Hogwarts and search for the bracelet. I thought that maybe I would be able to find it. I'd have to be careful. They were still searching there so they could see me if I messed up. But wait, I'd need a reason to be there. I stopped putting things into my suitcase. _What would be a good excuse?_ I wondered. Then that came to me. Since I have been working some jobs, I can say I was working for the Ministry for a bit. I could say that I was evaluating the teachers and students for them. That was what I was going to use for my excuse. It's brilliant. And then I started to pack again.

When I was all done, I wrote a note to everyone and left it on my bed. Then I took out my wand out. I pointed it to my suitcase. _Levicorpus_ I whispered. It rose into the air. I opened my door and started to walk out. I proceeded down the stairs and through the main room where everyone was sleeping. I made sure that I was completely quiet. Then I made it through the front door without a problem. I Apparated onto the grounds of Hogwarts. They don't use the protective charms anymore since Voldemort was gone. And I entered my old school once again.


	5. Found

When I arrived, it was still too early for me to go into Hogwarts. It'd be quite confusing to be going in at this early hour. I wasn't tired at all. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't go to bed until the next night. It just didn't seem right for me to go to sleep. I needed to stay focus on what I needed to do. If I went to sleep I might forget it all. I'd have to say that running away was much easier then I thought it would be. I thought that I wouldn't have made it out the door. Thanks to everyone's heavy sleeping I made it.

Since it was too early for me to talk to the headmistress, none the less anyone, I decided to walk around the grounds. I had to think about how I was going to do this. My father and his friends will always be around the lake, but they had to take breaks sometimes during the day. And those breaks were when the students had there free time. They couldn't let kids see what they were doing. Not even the teachers. I decided that during the breaks I would look around the lake to see if I could find anything that the others might have missed. I was definitely going to be the one to find it. I had to.

The time was flying. It must have been around five in the morning since the sun started to come out. I practiced what I was going to say to the headmistress. I was an okay liar. I had to make it look believable. I was a bit too busy to realize that my suitcase was still in the spell, so I said _Liberacorpus_ and it fell to the ground. Luckily it didn't open. I dragged it with me everywhere I went. I was getting tired of walking around now so I sat down for the remaining of the time. The sun was fully out and I could see teachers walking in the building so it was time for me to proceed with my mission.

Students were actually awake at this time even though they had about an hour before they need to wake up. I got some weird stares here and there, but I put it off. I didn't care what they thought. They were just some students.

I walked up the stairs to where I'd find the headmistress's office. I knocked once and the door flew open. Professor Mcgonagall was sitting in her desk. She seemed a bit surprised to see me.

"Miss Greengrass. What a surprise to see you here. It's very nice to see you again."

"A pleasure to see you again as well, Professor."

"May I ask what are you doing here of all places? I thought you were being protected from the Carrows."

"I was. I mean I am. But I convinced my father to still let me work. I mean I've been out of the house with little protection and they still haven't gotten at me yet. I don't know why they'd wait though. Anyways, what I'm doing here is I've been working a couple of days at different jobs to see what I want to do with my life. And well it's the Ministry's turn. My father wants me to run a group that

evaluates everyone here at Hogwarts, and I thought I'd give it a go. I'm here to

evaluate teachers and students."

"Excellent. How long will you be staying?"

"Well the usual amount of days. Two weeks."

"Alright then. I'll get your room ready and everything."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I'll make an announcement during breakfast to tell everyone you're here."

"Sounds great."

"Well I suppose you want to put all the stuff down. Your room is ready. You know

where all the extra chambers are right?"

I nodded. "The one's near the moving stairs?"

"Yes those. Yours is the third one on the left. It's the only one that is straight ahead of one of the staircases."

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome dear."

I walked out of her office and straight to my chamber. My plan was working out smoothly.

For the past week I have doing what I was supposedly doing. Standing in a classroom and writing down notes and evaluating the students and teachers. But really I was just scribbling in a sheet of paper. When it was the students free time I went out to the lake and walked around it to see if there were any clues. I didn't think it would take this long to look over the entire lake. I only had a week left and nothing was coming up. So I gave up and started to think. _What if that wasn't the lake that she got killed. Maybe that wasn't where her bracelet came off._ I thought that over and over. And then It hit me. I have been just focusing my time on a lake that has been searched over and over again. That's not the only lake near Hogwarts. So I decided that I'd check the one closest to it out of them all. The Black Lake was the one I would look at next. It was a brilliant idea. I just hope that it won't take as long.

The next day during the free time I went out to the Black Lake. It seemed eerie like it always did. I stood out in the peer for a couple of minutes to get used to the feeling. I'd be out here for a while. I started to walk around the perimeter of the lake. I kept getting this odd feeling telling me to look at an odd placed rock around the lake. Finally I let me feeling take me there. I just stood there for a second thinking this was a waste of my time. But then I had the sudden urge to touch the rock. So I reached out and placed my hand on it. And then it hit me. I was having a vision.

It was at night and there were spells being cast everywhere. Then I saw her. Ramiel. She was defending herself. Sending spells here and there. But then she was hit from behind by a killing curse. She fell forward and her bracelet flew off her wrist. It landed in the water. Sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness of the lake. Until you could see it no more. When I came out of the vision I fell backward and landed on my arse. I turned around and stared at the lake once more. I knew where it was. A smile came upon my face. I couldn't believe that I found where it was.

I couldn't get it though. I want someone to watch me to make sure that I got out alive. But I had no one with me. No one here knew the truth of what I was doing here. I'd have to leave the bracelet in the deep dark depth of the water for now. But I will get it eventually. I am the only one that can touch it. I was the only hope to solving the mystery. And I will solve it.

I got up and rubbed all the dirt off my clothing. I started to head back. I felt accomplished and good of what I did. Everyone will be so proud when I return home. But I won't go home just yet. I still had a couple of days left of my "evaluating". I just couldn't leave all of a sudden. That'd look too suspicious. I just had to stay calm and together until the week was over.

As I walked along the path I heard a noise coming from behind me. I looked and my eyes grew wide with surprise. There were carriages behind me. Not just regular carriages, but carriages from the Ministry. It wasn't the one that my father takes. It was the carriage that the group that I'm "working for" used. I had completely forgotten that it was the time that they actually evaluate. I got nervous so I ran as fast as I could back. I hoped that they didn't see me. I ran toward the main entrance that they will be dropped off. I knew that Draco and Theo would be in the carriage. They wouldn't be if I stayed at home, but I left. I felt so stupid. I didn't think it all the way through.

I got to the main entrance safely and I hid behind one of the pillars. Students gathered to see who it was. As if they weren't used to them coming once a year. I looked from behind the pillar with nervous eyes. The first two that came out, I had no idea who they were. Then when Theo came out I couldn't move. When Draco came out, I couldn't breathe. I was stuck there in that state for a bit.

They were greeted by the headmaster and the headmistress. They seemed delighted to see their old students again, after so many years. I still couldn't breathe or move as they started walking towards me. I forced myself to pull my hood up and run away. I knew it looked terribly suspicious but I had no choice. I couldn't stop myself. I kept running and running until I reached my chamber. As I entered I could barely breathe. I hadn't run like that in forever. But these days I've been running away a lot.

Sitting on the window sill looking at the darkening sky. I had been in my chamber for a couple of hours. I knew that when dinner came I would have to go. It'd seems odd if I didn't show up all of a sudden. Even more odd if I said I got sick when many people saw me just fine. Though I did feel a little sick to my stomach as the time passed on. Before I knew it, it was dinner time and I had to go. I got dressed in my professional clothing and tied my hair. Then I headed out the door.

It felt awkward being there earlier then others but I needed to find a seat as far away from Theo and Draco as possible. So I decided to sit next to Neville Longbottom. He was here to be a teachers assistant and was doing quite well.

All the students began to pour in. they all sat at their house tables but they weren't wearing there robes. Professor Mcgonagall made the announcement that there was no need to change back. When she saw me sitting at the table, she tapped me on my shoulder and asked me something with a very curious look on her face.

"Why didn't you show up along with the others?"

"Well I thought that since I'm new at it I could try and get used to it by showing up a week early."

"Oh. I see. You always were an over achiever."

She patted me on the shoulder, smiled, and took the seat right next to me.

The head master stood at the podium and waited for everyone to settle down. When everyone did he started to speak.

"Today we are honored to be in the presence of the Ministry. Every year this group visits to evaluate you, as well as the teachers here at Hogwarts. This group comes here every year, so like every time they visit, show them your best qualities. Now, I shall introduce you to the people that came all this way from the Ministry to do their job." He gestured to the door to the right of him and out they walked. He started to call of names. The first two I still did not know or care who they were. I just waited for Malfoy and Nott to come out and find me here of all places.

"Amelia Crane, Veronique Carol, Harry Potter, Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy." When the last two walked out, they spotted me immediately and looked at each other. Then there eyes widened in surprise. Neville made a scoffing noise when Draco walked past. And he started to talk to me.

"I'm surprised they let him actually have a job at the Ministry after what he did."

"Yeah. He did some unforgivable things."

"He seemed shocked to see you here. So did Nott. Do they know you."

I just looked down and said "Yeah."

When Neville saw my expression he knew to stop talking about it. I blanked out of the rest of what the headmaster said. I could feel both of their eyes staring at me. But I dared not to look at them. No matter what.

During dinner I barely ate. I couldn't with their eyes staring at me the whole time. I had a feeling that I just needed to tell someone and get out of this room. I untied my hair to relieve the pressure on my head and to hide my face from Malfoy and Nott. I needed to leave. I was thinking that I should check the library for a book on Ramiel. But I couldn't just leave by myself. Nott and Malfoy might follow and capture me. But when the feeling of needing to tell someone overwhelmed me I turned to Neville.

"Neville? You can keep a secret right?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"I need to tell someone about something."

"Alright. What's going on Astoria?"

I brought my voice down to a whisper. "Well, I'm not really here for what everyone thinks. Have you read the Daily Prophet? The one about me."

He nodded.

"My family is searching for this bracelet. And I've been protected for the last month from the Carrows until we find it. I couldn't stand to be watched all the time so I ran away from home and came here. Supposedly my ancestor Ramiel Reiann died somewhere around Hogwarts and her bracelet was here. So I ran away from home hoping I could find it, and I did. But I was going to return home when I said I would. That's why I'm here. Not for what everyone thinks."

"So you never were evaluating anyone."

"No. I was just scribbling on a piece of parchment. Oh and another thing. Nott

and Malfoy acted that way when they saw me because they're my protectors."

"They are?"

"Yes. I know it sounds odd, but my father trusts them because our families are friends."

"I see."

"Yeah. Promise me you won't tell anyone. I'm only here for a couple of days and then I leave."

"I promise."

"Oh and one last thing, I swear. After you're done with your dinner come with me to the library and help me find a book in the restricted section."

"Okay, but what do you need to find there?"

"I want to see if they have any books on Ramiel. If they do, it might help me

figure out some things."

"Ah."

"Yeah. Are you finished now?"

"Yes. Let's go."

"Okay."

I turned to Professor Mcgonagall to tell her where I was going.

"Professor. I'm going to go into the library and pick out a book. I finished the one that I brought here and I can't possibly read it again. Neville is accompanying me. He's recommending some books here that I might be interested in."

"Alright. That sounds good."

"Good-night."

We headed for the door and headed up the stairs for the library. The doors weren't locked because it was still a bit early. I opened the door and walked towards the restricted section.

"Alright, Neville, start searching."

"Okay."

I walked through all the isles looking for any book that might contain something about Ramiel. I found nothing at the top but Neville happened to find at least one book about her. He handed it to me.

"Thanks Neville. You can go back now if you want. I'm just going to stay here and read it."

"Sure. No problem. Good luck." He left the library.

I started to read the book, and unlike the other one it didn't confuse me. It was quite interesting actually. It talked about her childhood and what she went through. There was another picture of her. A drawn one of course. It was like looking in the mirror. It was amazing at how much I resembled her.

I heard a slight crack coming from the door. I called out, "Hello?" but I felt foolish. Who would find me here. Only Neville and Professor Mcgonagall knew. So continued to read. But then I heard footsteps coming in my direction and I started to worry. It couldn't have been Neville, he didn't forget anything here. And it couldn't be the Professor. She didn't need me for anything. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my wand just in case. The footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Finally I closed the book and stood up, waiting for whoever was there to show themselves.

I wasn't expecting this to happen. But when the person walked out and into the dim light, I froze. I was Malfoy. I thought that maybe he'd bring Nott, but he was no where. "What do _you _want? What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Leave."

"Sorry, but I can't do that. You see I'm only here to bring you back home now."

"Yeah. Well I'm not going back."

"Yes. You are."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine, then. I guess I'll just have to force you."

"You can't force me unless you catch me."

I turned around and ran as fast as I could. I knocked over books as I past. He was right behind me. I pushed the door open and ran down the hallway. Thank goodness there were no students or teachers around. He started throwing spells at me but I dodged them as best I could. As I turned a corner I slid on my shoes and ran into the wall. Another stunning spell came my way straight towards my head but I ducked as I regained my balance and started to run again. I haven't ran this fast in a long time. I hardly believed that I was actually running that fast. I was losing my breath but I knew I couldn't stop or he'd get me.

My arm started to hurt from running into the wall. But I just let it go. Running back to my chamber was the only place I'll be safe. _Damn, this place had to be so big!_ I thought. An idea came into my mind. I took my wand and tapped it on the top of my head and said _Geminio_. There were two of me running now. I pushed my clone into a broom closet and entered the one right across from it. I knew Malfoy knew which one I was in so I did a spell that made me switch places with the clone. I ended up in the other closet. I heard the other door open and him saying _I've got you!_

I opened my closet door and pointed my wand to the other door shutting it as my clone disappeared. I started to run again as the door started to open.

I was so close to my chamber. All I had to do was climb up the moving staircases. Malfoy was right behind me again. I started to run up the stairs. I was almost to the end when the staircase moved. The force pushed me into the railing almost making me drop the book. But I didn't I jumped off the stairs and landed on the landing. Finally I made it to my room. Opening the door gave me a sign of relief. I ran inside and locked the door putting a protective charm on the room. I could breathe again. As I put the book down, I lost my breath when I heard a _pop_ outside.

When I turned around he was right there. I gasped and ran for the door, but he was too quick and slammed the door shut right as I opened it. Then he slammed me against the wall, grabbing onto my wrists.

"Who do you think you are doing a stunt like that?"

"What?"

"You know bloody hell what. You ran away from home when you were a target. How stupid can you be? When your parents found that note they came running down. Your mother was crying like crazy."

"Well it's nice to know that they actually care."

"Shut up." Malfoy spat. "They're your parents of course they care."

"Yeah, well, it's kind of hard to tell when they lock you up and don't give a damn of what you think or say."

"Listen, you are going back there. And you are going to tell them everything."

"There's nothing to tell Malfoy! All I did was run away to Hogwarts. That's all."

"That's not all. You're going to tell them why you did it."

"Oh. Why. Well as if it weren't obvious!" I started yelling without realizing it. "I have been stuck under house arrest for a month. They never listen to what I have to say. They didn't care what I had to say. All I wanted was to help. I didn't want to be protected as if I didn't know how to protect myself. They're looking for the bracelet as if it's more important then listening to what I have to say. Yeah, they're my parents. They care they love me. But not enough to listen. Stubborn. That's what they are. Stubborn!"

"You don't know what they went through when they left. You're father had a search for you. He stopped looking for the bracelet. He stopped everything that he did because he was worried about you. And you're mother. Don't even get me started. She cries every night and we can hear her all the way down in the main room."

"Look, Malfoy what do you care. Now that I'm gone you can just do whatever you want. You don't have to watch me anymore. You don't have worry about anyone else except yourself."

"What do I have to do, to get you to go home?"

"Hmmm… let me think." I stood there thinking for a moment and came up with,

"Reasons."

"What?"

"Give me at least one reason for me to go home now, instead of when I told Professor Mcgonagall, which will be a couple of days, that I can't retaliate against."

He stood there still holding onto my wrists pushing me against the wall.

"Your parents. If you go back your parents will let you do what you want and they won't have you watched all the time."

"Unlikely. They just say that to get me to go home. They'll still have me watched."

"You're right. Daphne. She's your sister and she misses you."

"She may miss me but she has her friends sleeping at the house. She can't be that lonely."

He said many reasons after reasons, but I could always find something to go against it. After a while he let go of me but made sure I was no where near the door. And after the last five reasons he seemed like he was about to give up. But then he looked at me like he never did before.

He said, "How's this for a reason?" Before I could say anything he pressed his lips to mine. At first I was surprised but then my eyes began to droop closed and I saw lights. My heart began to beat faster. It seemed all to soon he ended it.

"My last reason is that you should come back for me. I actually do care about you, Astoria. I want you to be safe. I've had that feeling since the beginning. Come back, please."

"I-I uh…" after a while of thinking I couldn't possibly come up with a reason. So I just looked up at him, stared him in the eyes and said, "You got me."

He smirked with glory. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Okay," I started. "I'll go back tomorrow. I'll tell the headmistress that my father wanted me to go back and that since you were here they was no need of my presence."

"Actually when we arrived here I told her everything already."

"You did? But how did you know I was here?"

"I saw you running."

"Right."

"No one runs as fast as you do, Astoria." I had to admit it was nice for him to say my first name after months of him not calling me anything. "So why exactly did you come here?" He asked.

"I wanted to see if I could find the bracelet myself."

"And…"

"I know where it is." His eyes lit up as I told him that.

"Where?"

"I'll explain when I go home tomorrow. It'll be easier telling everyone at the same time."

"Good idea."

"So, did you mean that kiss and everything you said about caring about me?"

"Yeah. I've felt that way for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it with Pansy around."

"Ah. I see."

I just couldn't help but smile. And he smiled back at me.

"Well I guess I should pack my things. We'll leave first thing in the morning."

"Sounds good to me. Well, I guess you should go to bed. Tired from all that running. Good night."

He kissed me on the cheek and headed out the door. It felt as if everything will change between him and I from now on. But I couldn't think about that now. Tomorrow I will be headed home.


	6. Black Lake

I woke up in the morning a bit too early than necessary. By that I mean before the sun was up. I barely slept last night because I kept thinking about what would happen when I returned home. My parents will either be happy, or angry that I left in the first place. But no matter what their expression would be, they'll be happy when I give them the news about the bracelet.

Since I had nothing else to do, and sleeping wasn't an option anymore I decided to read the book I got from the restricted section. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take it with me home because that would be considered stealing. The book was completely fascinating and I just couldn't put it down. It was not a big book so I thought I could finish it with what time I had. And I did. I was a fast reader.

When I had finished the book it was time to go. I got dressed and put my suit case on my bed. First I had to go to the library and put the book away. Then I'd have to leave with Draco and Theo. As I opened the door the two of them were standing right there, waiting.

"Ready to go?" Theo asked.

"Yes. I just have to return this book at the library." _I wonder if it was still a mess from what happened last night. _I thought.

I walked towards the library with both of them behind me. When I opened the door, sure enough it was still a mess. So I decided to clean it up. With a move of my wand everything went back in order and the book went back to its original spot.

Draco asked, "What was that book about?"

"Ramiel. I'll tell everyone about it later when I get home. Just like the news I'm going to give."

"Sounds great. Now let's head out."

"Okay."

We all Apparated at that spot. When we arrived at the front door I nearly tripped, but Draco caught my arm before I fell. I guess sleep helps my coordination.

I felt this weird feeling in my stomach as I just stood there. Theo and Draco opened the door and went inside. As the door stayed open and they both were fully inside, I just stood there looking. I was actually scared to enter my own home. Draco turned around and saw me standing there, just staring.

"Come on. Get in here. Your parents are inside and I think I can hear your mother crying."

I nodded. I could hear her too.

"I don't know what I'm scared of." I said as I headed in. "I just don't know how they'll react."

"I know." He said as I closed to door. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

Draco still held my hand as I walked into the main room where everyone else was. When I was fully in the room he let go. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as they saw me once again. Daphne smiled wide as she ran towards me to hug me tight.

"I can't believe you're back! Now don't you ever do that again." She threatened.

"Mother has been crying for forever. She just won't stop."

"I know, I heard. Where are they? Mother and father I mean. Call them down here, I've got news."

"They're upstairs. Dad has been trying all morning to calm mum down. Telling her that you'll come back soon enough guess he was right this time." Daphne ran to the bottom of the stairs and yelled, "Mum! Dad! Come down here! It's important!"

Everyone else came and gave me a hug as they greeted me. Even Pansy hugged me. I thought she would've been mad for holding Draco's hand. But she apparently wasn't. Millicent and Tracy hugged me tight just like Daphne did. Blaise just shook my hand. It was hard to believe that they actually missed me.

Mother and father ran down the stairs. I could see that mum was crying. Her eyes were red and she was holding a whole tissue box. My heart pounded faster as they came down. I was the only one standing up then. The rest was sitting there waiting to see what would happen.

Daphne pointed at me as they were all the way down stairs. When they looked at me with surprise my heart stopped. I forced myself to smile a little. My mother started crying hard again as she ran towards me.

"Astoria! My baby is back home!" She hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe. But it felt good to be in my mother's arms again, so I hugged her back.

"Yeah, mum. I'm back."

She let go and looked at me.

"Where in the world did you go? Why did you leave Astoria? You had me worried sick."

"I can tell. I'm sorry. I'll explain everything soon okay." She nodded. I looked over at my father who looked happy instead of angry at me as I thought he would be.

"H-hi dad." I stuttered. I thought he would blow up any second.

"Hello, Astoria." I felt tears in my eyes as he said that, but I kept them held back. I hadn't heard his voice in forever. It felt overwhelming being back. I guess my mother's crying made me emotional too. I ran into his open arms saying "I'm sorry" over and over again. He just said it was okay.

"So what's this news Daphne yelled to get us down here. It better be good."

"It is."

He looked over at my mother and walked towards her.

He said, "See I told you she'd come back."

"Henry, you said that everyday she was gone."

"Well, Mariella I was right today. She did come back didn't she?"

"Yes, I guess you were right."

"Mum, dad. About my news it's important."

But they just kept talking about me being gone. My father had told my mother that she was over reacting and my mother was telling him that mothers are supposed to do that.

They both looked at me and my father said, "You know, you're going to be punished for leaving in the middle of the night."

"Yes I know, but that's not important right now."

"Not important. Astoria, I don't think you understand what you did was terribly wrong."

"I understand that but really my news is more important."

"What is more important than you coming home after a week without any of us knowing where you were?" My mother stated.

"Yes. Your mother is right. You're news is not important right now. It can wait."

"Actually it is-"

I was trying to tell them but they just kept talking ignoring what I had to say. After five minutes standing there listening to them talk with my arms crossed over my chest I finally just bowed my head in defeat. I wasn't going to be able to tell them. Then when they had finally stopped talking and I had my chance, the other parents came in.

"Ugh!"

"Well, well, look whose back. It's Astoria." Lucius Malfoy said. Narcissa smiled and nodded. All the parents were now talking about me coming back. I just kept standing there annoyed and irritated. I looked at everyone sitting on the couch and they just shrugged. I looked at Draco and he gave me a look saying I had to say something.

Finally, I just yelled. "HEY! Would you all just shut up for a moment! I have to tell you all something very important!" Before anyone could say anything, I continued. "Yes. More important than me coming back. More important than my punishment for leaving."

"Well what could be so important than that?"

"I found it!"

"Found what?" They all said in unison.

"I found the bracelet. That's what so important."

"You found it? Where is it then?"

"I don't have it with me but I know where it is. Now would you all just take a seat so I can start at the beginning?" They all sat down somewhere.

"Alright. Thank you. Now, why I left home because I thought I could find the bracelet myself. Where did I go you may ask? Well obviously Hogwarts. When I went there I thought that maybe I could find the bracelet since I was the reincarnation of Ramiel. When the rest of you were gone away from the lake I looked around. But found absolutely nothing at all. So then I started thinking. You all were wasting your time at just one lake. I mean, sure it was the biggest, but that didn't mean she died there. She could've died at a different lake around Hogwarts. There is certainly more than one there. So one day I headed for the Black Lake. I got this eerie feeling while I was there. The same feeling I got when it was the Triwizard Tournament. But I just put the feeling off as I started walking around the perimeter of the lake. Then my feeling brought me to this odd placed rock. For some reason I had the feeling to touch it and I know it sounds odd but it helped a lot. When I placed my hand on the rock, it hit me. I got a vision. It was many years ago. The night that Ramiel died. She was fighting alongside her partner. Spells were flying everywhere, in every direction. She was defending herself. Then her partner turned around and sent a killing curse at her back. I only got a glimpse of what he looked like and he looked familiar. Ramiel fell forward from the spell and the bracelet came off her wrist and flew into the water. It is still there today since no one can touch it, and no one thought to look there."

"That's brilliant." Daphne complimented. "Who ever thought you'd find it by yourself."

"Why thank you."

"So now that we know where the bracelet is, what do we do now?" Millicent asked.

Lucius answered her. "We go and get it of course."

All the parents agreed. Even mine.

"But how do we get it exactly? Millicent asked again. "The only person that can touch it was Ramiel."

I responded. "Well I was thinking about that too. Since I am the reincarnation of her, maybe I should be the one to get it."

"That's a good idea. So it's decided then. Astoria will go into the lake and retrieve the bracelet." Lucius said.

"It is not decided yet." Daphne started. "The Black Lake is dangerous to go into. Astoria just can't jump in and get it easily. She might get killed in those waters."

"She'll be fine. After all she was by herself with no protection while the Carrows were after her."

"Daphne," My father spoke. "Astoria must do this. We need to have the information from the bracelet. I know you care about your sister but she'll be just fine." My mum nodded in agreement.

Daphne crossed her arms in frustration. "Why don't we just let her decide father."

Everyone turned their head to look at me.

"Look why don't we all just go to Hogwarts and I'll show you where the bracelet fell. Then we'll decide there."

Everyone agreed.

*********************************************************************************************************************

It took us a while to get to the Black Lake without having anyone find us there. I guided everyone to where Ramiel died. After I showed them that we headed for the pier so that if I did go in to get the bracelet, it would be easier to dive in then from the side. I walked over to the starting point of the pier and then all the parents gathered around me and my father said, "Alright Astoria, you know exactly where to go right. From here dive towards that edge. And don't forget to use bubble head spell, so you can breathe under there."

"Hey, wait. We haven't officially decided that she was actually going to jump in there." Daphne said. All the other kids stood by her and agreed.

Then Draco spoke. "We are her protectors and we aren't going to let her jump in that lake." Daphne grabbed my arm and pulled me over to where everyone else was.

The parents stood at the beginning of the pier while their children stood closer to the edge. Then they started arguing about me getting the bloody bracelet or not.

"She has to get it. We need the information." Lucius Malfoy stated. His son said otherwise.

"So you'd risk her life just for information from an old bracelet?"

"Draco, dear," Narcissa started. "This is important. It's the only way we can stop the next Dark Lord from starting again."

Daphne was fighting with my parents.

"My little sister isn't going to jump in those waters. She could easily die down there."

"Your sister knows better. She knows how to use her magic. Astoria won't die." My father stated.

"Your father is right, Daphne. She'll be alright." My mum said reassuringly.

"You just got her back. You're risking the chance of losing her again. Astoria is your daughter. How can you just stand there saying that she needs to risk her own life for a bracelet?"

I just kept listening to what they were saying. I wouldn't be able to retort with all the screaming. I was astonished that my protectors actually cared about my safety. Now more then ever. But I knew what I had to do. And it was to retrieve the bracelet. That was my decision.

I started to back up quietly so I could jump in the water with no one else noticing but the parents. Mr. Parkinson and Mrs. Parkinson saw me back up. I put a finger up to my mouth to tell them to keep quiet.

I stood a couple of feet away from the water. I took out my wand and tapped my head and my clothes disappeared and turned into a swimming suit. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I was just about to jump in the water when all of a sudden I heard someone says, "Well I guess she made her decision."

I turned around to see Mr. Bullstrode pointing at me and a bunch of surprised faces staring at me. My expression as well turned into shock as Daphne and her friends ran towards me with their arms spread out as if they were going to grab me. I quickly put my wand into the strap on my leg, ran then jumped. I felt one hand touch my arm, but I was too far away for them to grab me. As I landed in to water I heard screams of my name being called out. But I just had to ignore them and do what I was supposed to. I grabbed my wand tapped in on my mouth and a bubble appeared around my head.

It was very dark and I could barely see. I pointed my wand in front of me and said _Lumos_ and a light was in front of me. But then I forgot which direction I needed to go because the lake was so big. I rose to the surface quickly to see where I was supposed to go. As I did that people kept screaming my name.

"Astoria! Get out of the water now! You're going to get yourself killed!"

I turned toward the rock and said, "No I'm not. Just trust me." before anyone could respond I headed down the water once again and used the bubble head spell.

All the creatures saw me but just ignored me as I swam down. It seemed as if they knew who I was. That was lucky for me. I headed toward the area of the rock and then headed downward. It didn't get darker as I thought it would. It just stayed the same with the light I had on my wand. Heading farther down I saw something that caught the light from the end of my wand. It was shiny and it was sitting on a small rock. As I reached it I knew it was the bracelet. A serge of accomplishment ran through me and I smiled in what a great job I did.

A mermaid came behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see that she looked as if I was stealing it. So I pretended to be the owner of the bracelet. I did look like her anyway.

"Thank you for taking good care of my bracelet for me. I shall take it back now."

She nodded and then left me. I put the bracelet around my right wrist and started to swim back to the pier. When I was sure that I was close to the pier I said _Nox _and the light on my wand went out.

I came up to the top of the water with relieved faces looking at me. I climbed up the pier with the help of some hands. Then I raised my wrist and said "I told you to trust me." But as I finished my sentence their faces went from relieved to shocked. I turned around to see what they were looking at, and my face too went into shock. It was the Carrows, and they were standing across the lake from us.

My father tossed Daphne a long part of a chain.

"It's a port key." He said. "It'll activate itself in a couple of seconds. Grab on."

We did as we were told.

I held part of the chain with my left hand. When I turned to look at the Carrows, their wands were pointed at me and a red light blasted form the end on there wands.

It hit me straight on my back and I was pushed forward. I almost let go of the chain when someone's hand covered mine and caught me just as we disappeared.

Everyone landed on their feet as we returned back to the Estate. I turned my head to see that Draco was the one that caught me. I felt something burning my back. It hurt so much that I couldn't help but let out a sound of pain. Draco pulled his arm away from me as if he had been burned.

He said, "She's hot."

"Draco!" Pansy yelled, thinking that he meant something else.

My hand flew to my back as the burning continued.

"No," He continued. "I mean she's actually hot. Her back is burning."

Everyone started too look at me with concerned eyes. Then everything went by fast. Everyone started to gather closer to me. I kicked something with the back of my foot. I started to feel dizzy. I started to fall backwards. And then everything went black.


	7. Awake

My eyes opened to a partly dark room. I was laying on something soft, so I knew I wasn't on the floor of where I fell. It'd be rude if they left me there, though. My eyes were still adjusting to where I was. By how the sun was down and it was dark outside with a little light, I thought it was about sunset. I had only been unconscious for a couple of hours. I looked at the clock to see what time it was. And it wasn't nighttime. It was early in the morning. But I didn't know if it was the same day or a couple of days. But how refreshed I felt from sleep I could say I slept a long time.

Surprisingly I wasn't in my own room, but one of the guest rooms on the 2nd floor. _Why am I in here?_ I thought. This guest room was the biggest one in the whole house. It was for when Daphne or I had a sleepover with a bunch of friends. I wouldn't need to be in this room. My room was closer, and I didn't need this much space. I was sore from laying down for however long I was out so I sat up. As I looked around the room I knew why I was here.

When I looked down onto the carpet, everyone, the parents and my protectors, were sleeping around the bed. It was heartwarming. They all cared and wanted to make sure I'd be safe. When they wake up I'll be sure to thank them. But for now, since I'm tired of lying on this bed, I think I'll get up and walk around for a bit.

I quietly slid off the blanket and took a step down. Since I wasn't used to walking or standing, I almost lost my balance and fell on Daphne. Luckily I grabbed onto something before that happened. I was relieved to see that I wasn't in my swimming suit anymore. It would be bad to get the bed all wet. Instead I was in lavender silk night gown. Very comfortable and flowing. Walking very carefully over everyone, I made it to the door. I tried very carefully to open the door without it making a noise, but it squeaked anyways. A couple of people turned, but didn't wake up. That was a relief.

As I quietly closed the door I had a thought that it might be cold when I went outside to the balcony, so I quickly and quietly ran to my room to grab my robe. When I entered my room I passed my mirror and got a glimpse of how bad my hair was. So I quickly brushed it and tied it to the side. Then I grabbed my robe and ran to the balcony.

The balcony was calming and the fresh air filled my lungs. It felt great to be out here. The wind was a bit chilling but not that much. It was still a good idea to grab my robe. As I leaned over the railing I heard something jingle on my wrist. I had forgotten that I still had the bracelet on. For some reason it felt, right, wearing it. The bracelet was beautiful and it still looked brand new even though it's centuries old. For some reason, the bracelet felt alive. As if it held something more important than the truth. As if it held someone in it. _What am I think? I think I'm going a little crazy since I just woke up. Must be imagining things._ I thought that, but didn't believe it. I was looking up at the now fading stars, and the rising sun. It was a beautiful scene. The birds were chirping as well. _This is just bad timing for this stuff to be happening._ But it's happening anyways. A click from behind me made broke me away from my thoughts. I thought it was my mother, father or Daphne, but it wasn't either of them. It was Draco.

"I see you're finally awake."

"Yeah. I did a couple of minutes ago."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. Much better. I don't feel like I'm burning anymore."

"That's good." He said as he walked towards me. My heart started racing a bit. I didn't know exactly why, but I had thought that my feelings toward him changed after he kissed me when he found me at Hogwarts. So I just looked away and started playing with the bracelet. Looking at all the little charms on it. There was a locket on it. He looked down as well and examined the bracelet as well.

"This must be where she put the secret in." I said pointing to the locket.

"Must be. When are you going to open it?"

"Most likely today when everyone is awake. Everyone is so excited to see who it is. So might as well do it right away." I shrugged.

"Oh. Well I bet they'd understand if you didn't want to open it. I mean it's your decision now. No one else can touch it, so they can't do anything about it."

"You're right, but I want to open it. I want to see who it is. I want to end this as soon as possible."

"I think everyone does."

"That's pretty easy to tell." I paused for a second, and then asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Do you think I'm stupid for jumping in the water and getting this bracelet?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes. Honestly."

"Well, yes I do think you're stupid, but not for jumping in the water to get this bracelet." He said holding my wrist. "I think you're stupid for making us all worry when you jumped in. We all would've understood that you wanted to get it if you would have told us, but you didn't. Instead you just went and jumped right in."

"Ah. I'm sorry. I thought that you all would've just kept arguing with me and try to keep me away."

"We might have. But then we'd realize that it was your decision and let you go."

"That's highly unlikely. Daphne might have not given in."

"That's true."

"Yeah. Well I guess I should go back inside. And you should go back to bed. If someone wakes up and sees that both of us are gone, they might think something is going on between us." I laughed at that. He gave a little laugh in sarcasm. But something in his laugh gave it away that he didn't care and as if he was a little hurt that I didn't think there was something between us. But the truth was that I did know. I just didn't want to believe it because I was scared. Scared that if I showed it, I'd only hurt him if something bad were to happen to me.

I took a step to the side to leave the balcony, but I stumbled and fell forward. I was still a little wobbly from not walking for how long. And if I looked down I felt a bit dizzy. But when I fell forward he caught me by the hands and steadied my.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just I'm not used to walking quite yet. Merlin knows how long I've been unconscious." I still wasn't looking at him, but if I looked down I'd probably fall sideways. Instead I looked to the side.

"Well, okay then. Do you need help walking?"

"No, no. I'm quite capable of walking. I just can't look down at the ground or stand in one place without something to hold on to…" My voice faded because somehow I had changed my gaze and I was looking directly at him. Straight in the eyes. A warm feeling just came over me suddenly and I shuddered a bit. He was smirking down at me. Without thinking I leaned forward. So did he. We closed the gap that was between us, and our lips met. Once again I saw lights and my heart raced. After a couple of seconds I pulled back. As if the kiss was an accident. Trying not to show it, I smiled at him. But the smile faded quickly.

"What?" Draco asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. It's not you. It's just; we have to keep this a secret."

"Why?"

"Because, well, now is not the time to be starting a relationship. We have more important things to think about than us. And I don't want Pansy to kill me before the Carrows even get the chance."

"You're right. We probably shouldn't be doing this now of all times."

"Yes, that's right. Anyways, thanks for helping me steady myself. I'll be going in now."

"And I will be going back to sleep for a little bit longer."

"Right. But before you go back into the room you might want to watch me go down the stairs. I might just fall if I forget that I shouldn't look down."

"No problem." He laughed a little bit.

We headed back into the Estate. Draco stood beside me with his hands partly out to make sure that if I fall, he would certainly catch me. I made it down the stairs easily making sure that I didn't look down. Draco stood at the top watching me and when I made it to the couch I waved to him. A sign that he could now leave me be.

I sat in the living room for quite sometime. I did eat breakfast and I was really hungry. I really wondered how long I was out. My best guess was a couple of hours, but it seemed much longer then that. I let it go after a couple of minutes thinking about it. Instead I lied on the couch thinking about the bracelet. Thinking who it might be. I hoped that it wasn't me. Wouldn't be able to live with myself if it were me. I seemed to have drifted off into sleep once more, until I was rudely awakened by yelling. But it was a bit funny listening to it, because it was about me.

"WHERE IS SHE!?!" Someone yelled.

"What? Who???" Someone else said.

"Astoria! Where is she?"

I heard a smack.

"Ow! Millicent, you hit me in the face!" That I could tell was Pansy.

"Sorry!"

"We don't have time for that. Where's Astoria!?"

I heard things being knocked over, and a bunch of crashes.

Then I heard Draco's voice.

"It's alright. She's downstairs."

Then the door being thrown open and feet were rushing towards the stairs.

I looked up to see everyone, waved, and said, "Good Morning."

Sighs of relief echoed the room.

"I see you've finally awakened." My father said.

"For a while now."

"Well why didn't you wake us up?"

"Because I bet you've all been watching me for however long I was out. And you all needed your sleep. I didn't want to bother you."

"That's very thoughtful."

"Oh, which brings me to my next question. How long exactly was I unconscious?"

"About two days." My father explained.

"Wow. I only thought it was a couple of hours. What exactly happened to me?"

"Well, what do you remember?" My father asked.

I sat and thought for a second.

"I came out of the water, and everyone congratulated me. Then everyone's expression turned into shock. I turned around to see the Carrows. You threw a chain at us saying it was a port key. The Carrows pointed their wands at me and a red light escaped the tip of their wands. I fell forward, almost letting go of the chain, but someone grabbed my hand and caught me. We came home. I saw that Draco was the one to catch me. His hand flew from my back and he said it was burning. I felt the burning. I walked backwards, kicked something, fell backwards, and then everything went black."

"That's all?"

"Yes. What spell did they use?"

"A Jinx. It heats up your body to a very high temperature. If we didn't know what it was and didn't heal it right away. You would've died within an hour."

"Oh. Well the Carrows must be stupid. If they would've killed me they wouldn't have been able to figure out who the next Dark Lord would be."

"That is very true. I guess they aren't that smart."

I laughed a little bit.

"I forgot to tell you all something. When I was at Hogwarts I found this book about Ramiel. It didn't say much about the bracelet, but it did tell me how she knows who it is. Ramiel was a psychic. She must have had a vision about this time period and found out who it was. And I guess she wanted to warn us about it. She wasn't evil or anything like that. She was completely against dark magic, and she fought against it. That was what the war was about. Dark magic being started in the wizarding world."

"That's amazing." Daphne commented. "She _is_ just like you."

"No. _I'm_ just like her. Not even that, I _am_ her."

"True."

"Now on a different note. How about after you all eat breakfast, I'll open the locket on the bracelet and we'll find out who the next Dark Lord is."

"That's a great plan." My mother said.

"Then go and eat if you want to find out."

They all hurried over to the kitchen and I could hear all of the dishes being handed out. Within a half hour they were all done and crowded around me. Daphne was on my left side, while me parents were on my right. All eyes were on me, eager to see who it was.

I found the little locket on the bracelet and started to open it. My hands were shaky and I felt a little nervous. When I opened it all the way a little white light appeared in it. But I was the only one to see it because Daphne said, "I don't see anything."

"I do." I responded. She looked puzzled.

Suddenly the white light lurched forward and my eyes closed. I could see words in my mind being placed together in a small paragraph. I read it out loud.

"When the last Dark Lord has fallen by the chosen one, another shall be reborn. The name should be well known, but not in a good way. A man who lived through the dark times, and served the Dark Lord himself. The new generation will have the leader by the name of…" I stopped right there because I couldn't believe who it was. My eyes fluttered open and my head lay back on the couch.

"What? Who is it?" Someone asked.

I lifted my head up as I said, "Amycus Carrow…"

Gasps were spread around the room.

"Amycus?"

"Yes. Him. He's the next Dark Lord, unless we stop him. Well until I stop him."

"What do you mean by you stopping him?"

I closed my eyes and reread the ending.

"When I am reincarnated, I will be the only one to stop him. I must be the only one to stop him. No matter who helped me through the tough times, they cannot fight alongside me. Because in this battle, I am the only sacrifice that will be made. The only one that will risk their life, to end this fight for now."

My mother made loud gasping noise, as she started to tear up.

"No," she started. "This can't be right. It can't be true."

"That's what it said, mother. I'm not making this up. I have no choice now."

"Well that's just rubbish." Daphne said. "We are going to help you. Who cares what the bracelet said. We're your protectors and we're going to fight alongside you."

"No, you're not. I have to do this by myself. You've all done enough and I thank you for that. But I am not risking all of your lives just to save mine. Not anymore. Because this time, I'm going to save all of you."

"Astoria, you don't have to."

"Yes, Daphne. I do. You've all done enough for me. These past months it seems as if I'm taking you all for granted. As if I don't need to try anymore, because you've all fought for me. And I'm done with that. I _want_ to fight, and I am going to."

"Are you sure you can do this on your own?"

I paused for a second thinking about it.

"Yes. Yes, I am. I can do this. I have to do this. For all of you. Now we need to plan what I'm going to do. _That_, I need _all_ of your help in."

We sat in the living room for hours discussing on what I needed to do. Everyone gave their ideas, and we all considered them. By the time we were done it was around the middle of the afternoon, and everything was settled and ready.

I was to go the Carrows and tell them who it was. Hoping that they will appreciate me telling them right away, they may leave us alone. But if they don't then I'd have to fight them until they agreed or were killed. It was a risky thing to do. Almost everyone did think that they wouldn't do the first part. So I've been practicing my magic for the rest of the day. I'd have to leave tomorrow all alone.

It was like a couple of months ago when I had to sleep in the same room as my protectors, and tonight I had to do the same thing again. The only thing different was that, I barely fell asleep since I was unconscious for two days straight. I bet it was around one in the morning when Draco, who had slept right next to me, turned and opened his eyes. The look on his face was questioning. He looked at me as if I were crazy.

Then he asked in a whispered tone so that no one else would wake up, "Are you sure you're ready to do this?"

"Yes. I've said it so many times before. I'm ready. I can do this."

"You don't sound positive."

"I don't, do I?" I confessed. "Honestly, I'm scared. But who isn't? I am not just

doing this for everyone, I am doing this for myself. I need to prove to myself that I can fight when the ones that I love are in danger."

"I think you already have. Just by saying that you'd protect us, you've proven that you are willing to do anything. Even risk your life for others."

"But it doesn't _feel_ like enough. It just feels like it's all talk and no action. Like there's no proof that I would do anything. Just words."

"Well, that's your opinion."

"I know. Look, Draco, about earlier. You know, about _us._ I only said that because I don't want you to get hurt. If we were to be together and I was to die, I wouldn't want you to suffer. We need to wait until this is over and take it from there."

"I understand that. I get it. You want to wait until this is over and it's alright with me."

"Right."

"Now I think you should go to sleep. You'll need all of your energy, and your mind straight if you want to fight them.

"I will now that everything is cleared up a bit. Just promise me one thing. Tomorrow, you'll all be watching me. And if something doesn't look or feel right, don't save me. I know that's a lot to ask, but I don't want to be saved anymore. I want to be the savior. No matter what goes wrong, don't come and help me because I don't want any of you in danger."

"…okay."

"Tell everyone that tomorrow."

"I will."

"Good-night." I turned to my side so that my back was to him.

"Good-night." He whispered.

He seemed a bit choked after I said all that. I could feel myself tear up a bit. Because I was telling him that if I was dying to let me be. And to just watch.

I fell into a deep sleep after that. Tomorrow was the day that I either die to protect, or live in triumph. But either way, all of the ones that I love and are protecting will watch the whole thing. And wait to see what the outcome will be in the end.


	8. The Carrows

I woke up early in the morning along with everyone else. Today was the day that I either live or die when the truth comes out. And everyone will be watching. My nerves were getting the best of me, but I learned to just let them go. I could not let anything get in my way. Not today. Not while this is going on.

After I ate breakfast, I started to pack and get things ready, practiced my magic a couple times, and made sure that I had the bracelet with me at all times. It seemed to calm me down when I looked at it. But I knew that whatever happens today, looking at it won't calm me down when I'm at the Carrows.

Soon enough it was time to say good-bye to everyone. My mother was crying of course. She was so emotional. Daphne was pretty close to tears, but she also looked kind of mad. Probably because I didn't listen to her. And I wanted to do this by myself.

I hugged everyone a good-bye. My mum didn't let go for a couple of minutes. Daphne was the last one I hugged, and when I came near her she started crying.

"G-good l-luck Astoria." She blubbered.

"Thanks, Daphne." I came out of the hug and looked at her. "I'm going to be okay. Just remember to show enough love for both of us to mother and father, alright."

She just started to cry even harder and nodded.

I waved to everyone as I stepped into the fireplace. I had to use the Floo Network to get to the Carrows. I smiled slightly at everyone then dropped the Floo powder and said, "The Carrows."

That was the last time I saw all their faces. For now at least. The ones that I loved would get to see me, but I wouldn't be able to see them again for a while. Maybe not ever again, if this goes badly.

I arrived in the Carrow's home. They were sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace. They seemed surprised that I showed up to them. Instead of them hunting me down. Alecto and Amycus took out their wands and pointed them at me.

"Wait." I said as I climbed out of the fireplace. I actually didn't fall this time. "I'm here to give you the information that you want."

"Really? And how can we trust you."

"I came here didn't I? I don't have my wand pointed at you. I'm just standing here

before you. Ready to tell you what you want."

They dropped their arms to there side. Alecto spoke first.

"Alright, who is it?"

"Amycus. You are the one that was chosen to be the next Dark Lord."

He grinned slightly. "Me? Well that's a surprise. I am honored."

"My own brother has been chosen. That is such an honor. We must celebrate."

"Since I was only here to inform you, I think I should go now."

"Oh, no. You are not leaving. You're staying right here."

"What the need of me to stay here? I am of no use."

"Then we'll make you useful."

He pointed his wand at me again and I was tied up.

"Where's the bracelet?" He asked. "It should be worth some Galleons if we sell it."

"Good idea Amycus."

They turned to me.

"Give us the bracelet."

I said nothing.

"Not going to tell us. Then we'll find it. Alecto, check her wrists."

She came over and lifted up both of my sleeves. I felt tugging on my right rist and

the bracelet was off.

"Here we go."

He took it from her hands. "And now, you're punishment for not listening to me. _Crucio!"_

A pain shot through me like never before. But as fast as it came, it went away.

"You will be our servants. That'll make you useful."

"Like I'd serve you people. I just came here to give you what you want, and you repay me by telling me I have to be your servant. Well I won't have it. Serve yourselves."

"You insolent little brat! _Crucio!_" Another wave of pain struck me. They tortured me for minutes, but it seemed like they had done it to me for hours. Finally I gave in and they stopped.

"Alright! Alright! I'll serve you!" I screamed. Tears were streaming down my face uncontrollably. I tried to hold them because I knew that everyone was watching. And I couldn't show any sign of weakness. But the pain was so excruciating, I couldn't hold them after a while.

"Good. Now you will be staying upstairs. The last door of the hall. When we need you, we'll call you."

I just nodded as I stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes. I headed up the stairs to the room. When I got inside I lied on the bed and cried.

*********************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile at the Estate…

"She can't be serious. Astoria can't serve them. She shouldn't _have _to serve them. It's barbaric." Tracy Davis said.

Daphne supported what Tracy said. "Why don't they just let her go? She gave them what they wanted."

"It's the Carrows, not the Ministry." Blaise said. "They aren't so easy."

"Astoria is going to get hurt very badly unless we help her. We can't just sit around and watch."

"But, we have to." Draco said. "Last night she told me that whatever happens to her, we can't go and help. Even if she's dying. She doesn't want any of us to get hurt because of her."

"Who cares what she says!? She's my sister, and I am going to protect her." Daphne went to go grab her robe, but then my father grabbed her wrist.

"What do you plan to do, huh? Just waltz in there and fight. You haven't even thought this through fully. If you get hurt, Astoria is just going to blame herself. She'll think it'll be all her fault. And you're mother would have to suffer of thinking that she might lose both of her daughters. You know what she's like. You are not to leave this house to help her. She's not even in danger. When her life is at a critical state then we'll jump in and protect her. All of us, not just you. When she is close to death, that is when we don't listen to her, okay?"

"Fine." Daphne mumbled.

"Now let's keep watching."

*********************************************************************************************************************

I had finally stopped crying after a couple of minutes. I just lay there on the bed thinking of what I'm going to do next. None of us would have thought that they would make me do their bidding. It was either let me go, or kill me, but not this. No matter what I cannot back down. I'll have to do what I am told, and leave this place when I get the chance.

The rest of the day went slowly as I served them. I didn't retort, and I didn't get punished. As long as I talked to them when I was spoken to, or didn't say anything at all, I was safe. When I was done I headed back to the room I was staying in.

They haven't called me in a while, so I decided to see if they have any books to read. But I had to be sneaky. If they found me out of my room they'd take me back and torture me.

They're library was small, but it had a fair amount of books in it. I walked in between the shelves to see if anything looked interesting. And sure enough something did look interesting. It was a book about Ramiel. I wondered where they got this from. It's not like they know her, just about her bracelet.

I took the book back to the room. I stayed in there for a long time. The book wasn't large or small. It was about 300 pages. And I was going to finish it. Reading was my thing. I could read a 500 page book in one whole day if I had the time. A 100 page book I could read in an hour. So this book might take me a matter or 2-3 hours, depending on whether I have to stop to "serve" the Carrows.

I wasn't bothered, and I didn't have to do any serving for the rest of the day. I wondered if they just forgot I was here. It was late when I finished the book; there was no hesitation, and no stopping at any part thinking I didn't get it. I got everything the book said, and I was quite fascinated by it. She lived a great life. If only she lived it to her old age.

As I headed back to the library to put the book away something caught my eye. It was the Carrow's family tree. I went over by it to look at it more properly. When I came across a man by the name of Apollo Carrow, I stopped and stared at it for a long time. He looked familiar. _Where have I seen him before?_ I thought. But then pushed it aside because he was alive a very long time ago. I started to head back to the library and put the book back where I found it.

When I returned to my room, I couldn't stop thinking about the picture. He just looked so familiar. Then it came to me. I knew where I had seen him before, and everything began to make sense. I fell asleep with a smile of accomplishment. I had figured everything out. But it was too late to do anything about it. I was stuck here for who knows how long. And I might no get the chance to share it with anyone. The truth might be stuck inside me forever.

I woke up the next day with tear tracks on my cheeks. I guess I cried in my sleep, though I couldn't remember what my dreams were about. I felt a bit dazed, like this all was a dream, but it was reality. For some reason I had a bad feeling, that today was going to be horrible.

I changed my clothes and got ready to do whatever I was told. But not one of the Carrows called me down yet. After I was done serving them I got to eat my breakfast. Even though I didn't feel like eating. I actually didn't eat since yesterday.

I just sat in the room for what seemed like forever. _Why haven't they called me down yet?_ I wondered. It was quite odd that they didn't call me down for anything. Just as I thought I wasn't going to do anything today, there was a big crash downstairs.

"ASTORIA!!!" Familiar voices called. I knew exactly who it was. Waves of emotions ran through me. Anger, happiness, relieved, and scared was all I felt as I ran out of the room and towards the stairs. When I arrived I found them there, and all I could do was stand there. I was frozen in place at the sight of their faces. My feelings were right, something bad was going to happen, and it would be all my fault.

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I know this was a short chapter, but I thought it was necessary for all of you to get what was going to happen. Two more chapters and this story will be finished. More will come soon enough. - PurebloodCreatesPureLove


	9. Failed Rescue

I witnessed a little bit of what happened without any of them noticing me. My protectors didn't do such a great job in fighting back. Within minutes they were tied up and against the wall. _Way to go_, I thought. Alecto was the only one down there. She took care of them by herself. _Amazing_. I thought, but then went against it._ Wait, I'm not supposed to think that's amazing. They're my friends not my enemies._ I shook my head in disapproval of what I thought.

Alecto was just about to hit them all with a spell until I yelled, "Stop!" giving away where I was. I ran down the steps, skipping a couple on my way down. I ended up in front of them with my arms stretched out. "Don't hurt them." I warned

"You wish to defend these people, when they can't even defend you."

"Yes I do. If you want to hurt them, then you'll have to go through me."

I took a glance at my friends behind me. They all looked up at me with wide eyes,

as I looked at them with confused ones.

"Fine then. You'll be the first to die!"

I tried to grab my wand that was in my pocket, but it was too late.

"_Levicorpus." _Alecto said. I flew up in the air. My wand fell out of my pocket and landed on the ground below me. Alecto laughed menacingly as she whipped her wand from side to side. I was thrown against walls hard. So hard that some pictures hanging fell and shattered as they hit the ground. I was bleeding almost everywhere, but I didn't give up. I took the pain that was given to me, with no sign of weakness or giving up.

Everyone kept calling out for her to stop. They all saw me bleeding and giving out gasps of pain. I was being thrown onto tables even harder than I was thrown against the walls. The tables were breaking in half as I dropped onto them. One time I was close to my wand, but I couldn't quite reach it. I felt completely hopeless.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come. Though it seemed like it would take forever, I let my mind drift away. Apparently I looked like I was dead or unconscious, coming from the yells of everyone telling me to wake up. To open my eyes. But no matter what I didn't open them. Even when I felt he pain. I cringed a little bit, but that's all. I was thinking about what my parents were doing. Probably watching hopelessly. Father would be thinking that I was crazy for going their. Mother would be crying her eyes out seeing me go through so much pain. The rest of the parents would worry about their children's safety. Minutes had passed and I was still being thrown around like a doll. Bleeding uncontrollably. The end couldn't come fast enough.

The only thing that made broke me away from my thoughts was the excruciating pain that surged through me when Alecto threw me out the window and then pulled me back in. Glass shattered and stabbed into my back and front. Everyone was yelling my name and screaming for Alecto to stop. They told me to fight back, but what could I do. I had no wand and I couldn't grab anything. There was nothing for me to do but wait for this all to be over.

I looked over to all of my friends. Tears were in their eyes as they watched me hopelessly. But then somehow, Daphne and Pansy broke free from the ropes and aimed their wands directly at Alecto. She saw them and pulled me over a sharp piece of wood that was sticking up from the table that I broke.

"Put your wands down. Or else I let her go and she dies."

"Put her down safely and we'll put our wands down." Daphne replied.

They stayed facing each other for a couple of seconds. I just looked shocked to see that if they didn't put their wands down, I would fall to my death. And that's when I realized that I didn't want to die. Maybe for them but not like this. I meant quickly and pain free, and without them watching right by me.

Daphne and Pansy put their wands down. Alecto pulled me over to the side of the stake and dropped me, ungentle. I looked to my side and saw that she was tying them up again. Then I got a glimpse of what Pansy did. She stepped on my wand as she headed back and kicked it closer to me. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket. Just by doing that pain struck through me from being thrown around.

Alecto, with her back still toward me pointed her wand at Daphne and Pansy and hit them with the Cruciatis Curse. I saw them writher in pain. They cried for mercy. I couldn't take this anymore. I thought for a moment and came up with something. I had to go and get the bracelet from Amycus's office. That's where he kept it. Then run back down here and save them all. From what I read in the book that I found, the bracelet would have to come first if I wanted to save them and innocent people around here.

I slowly got up. It wasn't easy though. Pain was everywhere on my body. When I finally stood up, I ran for it. Alecto saw me and tried to hit me with spells but I dodged them. I almost made it out of the room when Alecto shouted.

"Come back here! _Levicorpus._"That was the only one that got me. She tried pulling me back but I held onto the railing tightly. I was up against the railing trying to hold on. I reached for my pocket and grabbed my wand.

Pointing it at her I said, "_Expelliarmus_."

Her wand flew from her hand. But since this railing was old and wooden, from all the force that was against it, it broke and I fell forward. My arms were stretched in front of me. As I hit the ground my left arm twisted and I heard a crack from my fore arm. I screamed from the pain that surged through me. _Like I didn't get hurt enough!_ I thought. Then I pushed everything else that I thought about behind me. I had to keep moving. I needed to end this now.

I turned over on my right side and made sure my left arm didn't move anywhere.

Pointing my wand at Alecto's, I casted a spell. "_Accio_ wand." Alecto's wand came flying towards me. I quickly got up not thinking about the pain and caught it with my good arm. Then I took it with both hands and snapped it in half. She wouldn't be hurting me or the ones I love anymore.

"NOO!" She screamed.

"_Levicorpus!_" I said. She flew up into the air. I started throwing her around like she did to me. Crashing into walls, the railing and onto other objects, she pleaded for her mercy, but I gave her none. I was angered by her, more than I thought I was.

When I finally set her down, hard, I tied her up. It was time to explain everything.

"Well," I started. "Now that you've received pain like I did, I guess you should know everything, right? It's not like you're not going anywhere but Azkaban. You see, when I came here all I was going to do was give you the information you wanted, and then take down the both of you. I wasn't expecting that you wanted anything from me. Especially me being your servant. But being here was really just nothing. You wanted me as a servant, yet you didn't want me to do anything. Now that's not the good part. I'm getting to that."

Everyone stared at me with confusion.

"Last night, I went to your little library and came across a book about Ramiel. Now I didn't think you looked at it. It's not like you people read, right? Well when _I_ read it nothing seemed to be pieced together. So when I was done I simply just put the book back. But on my way back I found your family tree on the wall. One face stuck out to me the most and that was Apollo Carrow. One of your ancestors. He looked familiar to me somehow, but at that moment I didn't know from where. When I got back to my room, things started to make sense. I knew where I saw him from, and I knew how you could touch Ramiel's bracelet when no one else could but me."

"You see, many years ago, when Ramiel was alive, Apollo was alive as well. They were the same age, were both purebloods, and they had a lot in common. Like how they thought that purebloods were more superior and frowned upon mudbloods. But the one thing that they didn't have in common was that Apollo thought dark magic was a great thing to have. And Ramiel thought that dark magic should not be used because it could danger everyone. That was what the war that killed Ramiel was about."

"She fought for her right, and died protecting it. At that time she knew already who the next Dark Lord would be after the other one had fallen. And she thought that if she could defeat anyone who wasn't against dark magic, that she would defeat the chance of one of her descendents becoming that next Dark Lord. Of course she told Apollo about her idea, and she told him who it was, but she didn't know that he wasn't against dark magic. Ramiel thought he was on her side. But that one night changed her mind about him. You see, Apollo was the one that killed Ramiel. She saw him coming at her during the battle. Since he betrayed her, she thought one of his descendents didn't deserve to have high power. The bracelet didn't fall off her wrist. Ramiel took it off. But she didn't have enough time to change the name because she was hit with the killing curse. So instead, she threw into the water, so that no one could get at it."

"But that's not the only reason she threw it in the lake. No, it wasn't only to hide it. The bracelet was unstable with all the spells in the charms to make them sparkle. Without her presence it would explode and create massive destruction. The only thing, other than her presence, that made it completely stable, was if it was in deep waters. The pressure from being so deep, kept the bracelet held together. Pressing it, so that it couldn't pull apart."

"Now, the last thing didn't make sense until I read the book. The bracelet was protected so that only Ramiel could touch it. Unless, she said otherwise. By that I mean, if she loved someone, and trusted someone that much, she would allow them to hold onto the bracelet if she were gone. Ramiel allowed Apollo, and his sister Azmana touch the bracelet. Apollo was allowed because, he was her husband. And Azmana was allowed because she was Ramiel's best friend."

"And little did I know that you and Amycus, were the reincarnation of Azmana and Apollo. Until I got a closer look at both of them yesterday, after I figured the whole Ramiel thing out. That's why you could touch it. Because you and Amycus are Apollo and Azmana, the only people Ramiel let touch her bracelet."

"You figured that all out in one night?" Alecto asked.

"Yes, because unlike you I'm smart. And I had some time to myself since you didn't want me to go anywhere after I was done serving you for the day."

"Foul child. You don't listen do you? If only you had obedience so that you would've stayed in that room and you wouldn't have figured anything out. Me and my brother would still have the chance to rule the magical world, if you wouldn't have interfered."

"Yes, well, good concurs all I suppose. Now I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to do one last thing. And that is to take back what's mine."

"Good luck getting passed Amycus. He's even stronger than I am."

"I think I can handle him."

I ran up the stairs once more. Pain ran through me as I went, but I couldn't think about it. Before I ran out of the room, I remembered, that I had to untie everyone. I turned around and said, "Sorry." Then I pointed my wand at them all and the ropes untied. Someone was calling after me but I didn't pay any attention. I needed to get that bracelet back before it destroyed itself and everyone here.

I ran towards Amycus's office and got my wand out and ready. I turned the handle, pushed the door as fast as I could and then said a spell right away. _Stupify_. I immediately hit him. _Nice shot_. I thought to myself proudly. Then I ran towards him and tied him up before he could get out his wand. _Petrificus Totalus._ He won't be moving for a while.

I looked through his whole desk and found nothing. I checked everywhere in his office and still found nothing. But then I thought that maybe he was wearing it. Silly idea but it was a possibility. I checked his right hand and found nothing. I checked his left hand and there it was. Right around his wrist. Weird for him to be wearing it. Sounds like Alecto should've worn it to be safe. It would have been more natural. Then I heard footsteps coming from behind the door. The door opened and Draco was standing right there.

"Looking for me?" I asked.

"Well of course. Are you alright. You took quite a beating."

"Yes. I'm fine. Just in a little pain, but it'll heal. Ow." I had forgotten my arm was broken and I had moved it a little down to my side.

"Here let me fix that."

"No I can do it. It's just a broken arm it's nothing serious."

"Just let me. Okay. You've done enough."

"Fine. Go ahead. But first go and put Amycus next to Alecto and have everyone watch them."

"Alright. I'll be right back." Draco picked up Amycus who was out of the spell I cast on him. He looked quite mad. But I didn't care. I had won. He's going to be locked up forever and I don't have to worry about him chasing my anymore. I took a seat in a chair. Feeling a little weak, I thought it was the best thing to do.

Within the minute Draco came back.

"Now let's fix that arm." He said.

I stretched out my arm as far as it could go without hurting it. He whispered a spell and I could hear the bones cracking back into place. It hurt even more than when I moved it, but I didn't show the pain.

"Thanks." I murmured when he was done.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes I'm fine. Stop asking."

"You don't sound fine."

"I don't, do I?"

"Not even close. What's wrong?"

"You didn't listen to me, that's what. I told you specifically not to come and you did anyways."

"Well what were we supposed to do? Sit there in your home and watch you?"

"Yes! That's what I expected you to do. I probably wouldn't have been hurt his much if you all would've just backed off."

"No you wouldn't have been hurt this much. You probably would've been dead. We saved you Astoria, why can't you just thank us?"

"_Saved _me. You barely helped me. All you did was get yourselves caught and I had to jump in and protect you all. Some save."

"You're really arrogant you know that."

"Yes I know. But really when you think about it, you didn't save me. You all just got me hurt. I probably wouldn't be bleeding this much, or in this much pain if you would've listened to me and stayed out of it."

"That's…true. We didn't think of that. But honestly this wasn't my idea. It was Daphne's. When she saw you yesterday being tortured she lost it. She almost came here by yourself if your father didn't intervene."

"Well of course. My father knows what would've happened. He's that wise. So how did you all manage to escape the parents?"

"All of us planned this last night when everyone else was asleep. Daphne kept telling us that we had to do something. At first we didn't want to but then we gave in. All of us woke up early in the morning to leave the house before any of the parents woke up. We left and stayed somewhere for a little bit then came in."

"Oh. Thanks for caring then."

"It was easy. Since you know I've cared since the beginning. And now I feel embarrassed because the parents probably heard that."

"No. They didn't. The watch was taken away when I took down Amycus."

"Thank goodness."

I only laughed at that.

"Well, since they aren't watching you anymore, I guess they won't see me do this."

He leaned forward and kissed me. Just like the other time, I felt a warm feeling and saw lights. But he seemed to end it too early again.

"Good work today, Astoria."

"Thanks, Draco."

"Since this is all over do you think we could start that relationship?"

"I'll think about it." I smiled. It was an obvious yes. "I think we should head back down. I really think I need to go home. And take Amycus and Alecto to Azkaban."

"Good idea."

We headed back down to where everyone else was. I flicked my wand at Alecto and Amycus and they headed toward the fireplace. I quickly wrote a note and stuck it on one of the ropes that tied them. Then Draco grabbed Floo Powder and said, "Azkaban". They disappeared from sight. Then, I got a big hug from Daphne, but it was only a second because I had screamed from all the pain. Of course she apologized and I said it was okay, but she just kept saying sorry all the way back home. Well, at least until I finally screamed for her to shut up and that I was okay.

When we arrived home I got more hugs. They were gentle-er than Daphne's. except for my mother. She squeezed the life out of me and I couldn't help but cry from the pain. My father gave me the most gentle hug of all. But even with the gentleness I still cried from how much it hurt.

My mother asked me what was wrong. "What's the matter sweetheart?"

"Mother, you hugged me too hard. I'm in so much pain, and you kind of made it worse." I sobbed.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

"That's what Daphne said too when she hugged me too tightly." I laughed while crying at the same time. Everyone else laughed too.

"Good job on taking down the Carrows." My father complimented.

I was rubbing my eyes to get rid of the tears. "Thanks father." He smiled at me.

"As for all of you. We need to have a talk." He pointed to everyone else.

"Astoria, dear. Let me take you up to your room and I'll heal you okay?" My mother said soothingly.

"Okay. That sounds good."

My mother took me upstairs while my father and the rest of the parents talked to everyone else. My mother sat me on the bed gently. But even that hurt and I gave out a gasp of pain.

"You've been through a lot."

"I know. Even one little movement hurts."

"Well at least you're alive."

"That's the only up point I can think of."

"Same here." We laughed. "I can't believe you took down the Carrows by yourself. And you figured all of that out with Ramiel."

"That's one of the perks of being smart. You figure things out fast and easily."

"Yeah, I guess. Now lie down so I can heal you."

I nodded and did as she said. She healed me quite fast. When she was done I felt completely relieved.

"Thank you mother."

"You're welcome, Astoria."

She left the room and I was just lying there. I could hear that all the parents were still yelling at their children. I could hear everything that was said. Father was yelling at them. Saying how stupid they were for going there. Dangering their lives but mostly mine. I felt bad for them taking all the blame so I decided to go down there.

"Astoria," My father started just as he saw me. "You shouldn't be down here. You should be resting."

"I'm fine father. I'm all healed. And I should be down here. It's not all they're fault. It's somewhat mine for getting stuck there in the first place. They were just trying to help. Look father can't we just forget it for now. Yell at them another time but not tonight. We should be celebrating ending this whole charade."

He sighed. For the first time my father listened to me right away. "You're right. This can wait until tomorrow. Right now we should be celebrating and resting."

"Yes. That's exactly right."

That night we all went out to eat at a very fancy restaurant. Everyone still made sure to be gentle with me even though I was completely healed. Then I kissed Draco in front of everyone. Surprisingly neither of us were embarrassed, and no one seemed to mind. Everyone except Pansy who let out a grunt of anger. And I told Draco that we could start that relationship we both wanted. That night, no, that day was great. One of the best days ever, not counting me getting terribly hurt. But all the other stuff was just great.

The next day my father continued yelling at everyone. When he was done, everyone went home after months of staying at our household. Amycus and Alecto were in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. The Ministry gave them no mercy, thanks to my father telling everyone what happened to his youngest daughter. I was happy with Draco, my sister wasn't as jealous as I thought. But that was mostly because she liked someone else now. Theodore Nott. Staying in the same house made it clear that she liked him more than Draco. Things were looking bright from now on. It seemed that no harm was to come to me or anyone I cared about again. And it all started because of a bracelet, which I wear everyday. It was a new beginning, that started bad, but ended good, and will stay good for always and forever.


	10. The Aftermath

It's been five years. My life has been safe and completely happy ever since that incident happened. All the lives that were involved had moved on, but stayed in touch with me. Even Pansy still talked to me after what had happened between Draco and I. But she obviously got over it. Hence she got married to Gregory Goyle about a year later. And had a child with him. A little boy, named Jacob.

Let me brief you of what happened to everyone, ever since what had happened.

Daphne got married to Theodore Nott, about a year after I had stopped Amycus Carrow from becoming the next Dark Lord. She stayed at her job at the Ministry, working as a secretary for my father. Well, up until she got pregnant a year later. Daphne had to stop working when she had her little daughter. Her name was Carolyn Nott. Just a little three year old, she is.

Tracy got a job at St. Mungo's a couple of months after, and she got engaged about three months ago, to Cameron Bleevy. I couldn't believe it when I had heard at first, but I was happy all the same. Milicent got married last year to Blaise Zabini and are expecting their first child in about five months.

The parents stayed the same. Still working hard at the Ministry. And of course my parents are still over protective of me. Ever since what happened, they want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Now about me. My life has been good. Nothing bad has happened. Well nothing serious of course. I did take the job at the Ministry. I am now the leader of the group that evaluates the students and teachers at Hogwarts. That one time pretending to do that, made me actually _want_ to evaluate.

I did date Draco for about 2 years. And then got married to him around the same time that Daphne got married to Theo. It was a double marriage, but fun all the same. I moved into the Malfoy Manor. Quite an odd change, but I got used to it. My parents were saddened a bit that both of their daughter were gone, and living someone else at around the same time. But I still visit them and they visit me about everyday.

The best thing of all was that I was now six months pregnant. It was a little boy, and it didn't take long for us to name him. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. Such a splendid name. Everyone thought so themselves. We were excited to finally have a little boy running around the household. We've planned everything, and it was perfect.

The weird part of it all was that I kept the bracelet that carried such a bad memory. I could've easily dropped it in a lake just like Ramiel did. But I just couldn't, because even though it carried a bad memory, it also carried something good. That was bringing me and the people that I cared about closer together. Much closer than we would ever be if none of that happened. It also carried a memory of me in a past life as a warrior and a strong woman. A strong woman that I had turned into in the present. I'd never be this strong if it weren't for learning who I was in a past life. Those memories were carried by this piece of metal. This little charm bracelet. And I couldn't let it go. No matter how hard I tried.

Everything was great. I knew that if anything were bad to happen, I could easily stop it. With the help of some friends of course. My life from now on, would be calm and happy. As well for everyone else's lives. They too will be safe, and they could freely do whatever. My life is changed. For good, and for the better.

Review please!

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I am thankful for all the reviews on this story. It kept me writing. Now I have been asked to write a sequel to this story, but i'm not so sure considering, it'll have to be time based about 6 years later. But i am still considering so i'm not quite sure yet. I wanna know what you all think. So please review and tell me if you would like a sequel or not. Thanks for the support! - PurebloodCreatesPureLove :D


	11. The Key's Sequel is No More!

Hello past readers. I know that you all wanted a sequel to go along with this story, and I know i started one, but sad news has come. I've decided to cancel the sequel since I have no more ideas to follow and I feel where it ended falls into place very well. I won't be continuing or trying again to write a sequel but that doesn't mean I won't stop writing fanfic. Again thanks for the reviews and hope you enjoy future fanfictions that I will be writing. Sorry! - PurebloodCreatesPureLove


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